Vehicle.



c. s. BEEBE.

VEHICLE.

. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. I911. l,%,857. Patented Mar. 12, 1918. I

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- C. S. BEEBE.

VEHICLE.

I APPLICATION FILED APR-'30. 19H. 1 ,258,857. Patented Mar. 12,1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IIIII Tz-f IIIIIIHII'IIIIIIIHI C. S. BEEBE.

VEHICLE. APPLICATION FILED APR. 30. 1917.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918;

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- tartan ea CHARLES S. BEEBE, 0F RACINE WISCONSIN,ASSIGNOR TO B. MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF BACINE, WISCONSIN, ACQRPOEATIOIN OF'WISCON SIN.

VEHICLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 12, 1918.

Application filed April 30, 1917. Serial No. 165,364.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES S. .BEEBE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Vehicles, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawing, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to vehicles more particularly intended for theuse of children and the object of the invention is to improve vehiclesinthe manner to be hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to. the drawings which accompany this specification and form apart hereof, which drawings illustrate embodiments of this invention.and on which drawings the same parts are designated by the samereference characters wherever they may appear in each of the severalviews, Figure 1 is a side elevation of one construction of vehicle; Fig.2 is atop plan view; Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view, and Fig. 4 isavertical, longitudinal section taken on the line'44 on Fig 2 looking inthe direction indicated by the arrows; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of asomewhat difi'erent construction of vehicle and Fig. 6 is a plan view ofthe vehicle shown by Fi 5.

l teferring to the drawings, the vehicles are provided with rear wheels1 and 2, front wheels 3 and 4, rear axle 5 and front axle 6, which maybe of any suitable or preferred construction. The front and rear axlesin of the spring members employed is immaterial. The reaches andthefspring members are united at points intermediate oftheir lengths inany suitable manner'as, for example, by th'e'pins 12 and 13, so thatthese members cross like the letter X, as clearly shown by Figs. 1, 4and 5 of the drawings. In the construction illustrated by Figs. 1, 2,

3 and 4 of the drawings, a cart body 14 is supported by the rear end ofthe reach 7 and'the front ends of the spring members 5 and 9 above thepi.12- In the cons ruction shown by Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, a seat15. is supported by the rear end of the. reach 7 and the front ends ofthe spring members 10 and 11 above the pin 13. The reach may be madestiffer than the spring members, so that substantially all of the springis obtained from the spring members as is shown by the constructionillustrated by Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, or the reach may be madethin enough so that it will afford some spring action as is shown by theconstruction illustrated by Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings. Flexing means16 are provided between a reach and the spring members to transmitmovements of the reach to the spring members atv a place between theirpoints of support. The pointsof support referredv to are the rear axleand the pins 12 and 13, respectively. The flexing means illustrated aretransverse members extending from one spring member toanother and it isimmaterial whether they are secured to the reaches or to the springmembers as far as their functions are concerned, but on the drawingsthey are illustrated as secured to the spring members. The springmembers are secured tov the rear axle in any suitable manner as, forexample, by clips 17 or a clip bar 18. The reach 7 in the constructionillustrated by Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings is secured to the seat 15in any suitable manncr,'as for example, by screws and the reach 7 in theconstruction illustrated by Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings is secured byabolt 19 to the cart body 14. The cart body 14 is illustrated asprovided with sides 20 and 21, ends 22 and 23, transverse bottom pieces24, 25, 26 and 27 and top end pieces 28, 29, and bottom boards 30. The

front ends of the spring members 8 and 9 95 b an inspection of Figs. 1and 4 of the draw: 100

ings that, when the cart body 14 is supportinga weight, the upper endsof the reach 7 and the spring members 8 and 9 will be depressed, turningabout the pin 12, and that the upper end of the reach 7 will contact 105with the flexing means: 16 secured to the spring members 8 and '9 andthat the flexing member 31 will contact with the reach 7, and the cartbody, with its load, will be w re s p d bi erri s e e o rem: e 9

' and 6 of the drawings, the upper ends of the spring members 10 and 11,instead of being fastened directly to the seat 15, pass betweenretaining members 34 and 35, one of which is secured to the seat and theother of which is secured to the reach 7,

whereby a kind of hinged connection is provided for holding the upperends of the spring members 10 and 11 in position. The spring members 10and 11 curve downwardly and to the rear so that they are substantiallyhorizontal over the rear axle 5 and afford foot-rests, so that the ridercan stand upright on them, instead of sitting on the seat, or apassenger can be carried on them either standing, kneeling or sittingdown.

'The frontend of the reach is connected with the handle 36 by a link 37.The handle is provided with an aperture 38 through which the link 37 canbe passed, and the link has a longer prong at one end than at the otherend, as clearly shown by Figs. 1, 4 and 5 of the drawings. A. metal wearplate '39, provided with an aperture to register with the aperture 38 inthe handle, may be secured to the handle. The link 37 is engaged with ahole in the link iron 40, which is secured to the reach 7 and the end ofthe link with the shorter prong is passed through the aperture 38 in thehandle and the combined footrest and brake 41 is hung on the forward endof the link 37. p

The combined foot-rest and brake 41 is preferably made from a piece ofboard and is provided with a notch 42, large enough to receive thehandle 36. A smaller notch 43 is provided at the bottom of notch 42 anda metal plate 4 4 is secured to the bottom or rear of the foot-rest andbrake with one edge in line with the bottom of the notch 42 and isprovided with a hole, which registers with the small notch 43, for thelink 37. The depth of the notch 42 is such that, when the handle 36 isthrown up and to the rear, as shown by Figs. 1, 2 and 5 of the drawings,the footrest and brake is pivoted or fulcrumed at a point between itsfront and rear edges so that it can be tilted up from the wheels, asshown by dotted lines on Fig. 1 of the drawings, or so that it can betilted down in contact with the wheels to be used as a brake. The edgeof the metal plate 44 serves as a fulcrum and the weight of the vehicleand its load will keep the foot rest and braks til ed p r m he h e bupon the front wheels to act as a brake as shown by the full lines onFig. 1 of the drawings. ff a child is coasting with its feeton thefoot-rest and brake 41, pressure exerted by the toes will apply thebrake, and release of this pressure, or pressure exerted by the heels,will release the brake.

The aperture 38 in the handle 36 is located forward of, or above, theconnection of the handle with the front axle 6, and the distance of thisaperture from the front axle is preferably a little greater than theradii of the front wheels so that, when the handle is turned forward andused for drawing the vehicle, the foot-rest and brake 41 will hang downvertically in front of, and not touching, the front wheels.

in the construction illustrated by Figs. 5 and 6 of the drawings, thefront axle 6 is made longer than. is required by the distance betweenthe wheels of the vehicle, so that the outer ends of the axle can beused as foot-rests and for steering purposes.-

As the aperture 38 in the handle 36 isbeyond the circumferences of thefront wheels, the front wheels can out under the .reach 7, when thehandle is raised, so as to make shorter turns.

With the constructionillustrated by Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawings, it ispreferred't o have the front wheels spaced apart at a 7 less distancethan the width of the cart body 14 and the reach 7 short enough so that,when the handle 36 is turned forward and down, the front wheels will beunder the front end of the body and the body will rest upon them, asshown by dotted lines on Fig. 4 of the drawings, whereby the body issupported without exerting pressure on the handle and whereby the bodyacts as a brake to prevent movement or movements of the vehicle. I

The handle 36 is prevented from swinging too far back either by the cartbody 14 (see Fig. 1) or by the front end of the reach 7 (see Fig. 5-).

The link 37 is normally held so far back in the aperture 38 that theparts cannot be disassembled accidentally but, by holding the handle ina vertical positionand pressing the link 37 forward in the aperture 38,the foot-rest and brake 41 can be readily junhooked from the link.

The gear, composed of the reach 7 and the spring members 8 and 9, can beremoved from the cart body 14 by removing the bolts 19, 32 and 33 and,by turning the reach 7 end for end upon the pin 12, the reach and springmembers can be folded up so as to reduce the longitudinal length of thegear to the length of the cart body. The wheels an be re d f m the a l snd all. t parts stowed in the cart body with the gear V, H v as a,cover, thus making a knocked down. pressure on its front part will forceit down package or" the vehicle which can be shipped in this conditionwithout an inclosing box or crate.

What is claimed is:

1. In a vehicle, the combination with a reach, of a spring member unitedthereto at a point intermediate of their lengths.

' 2. In a vehicle, the combination with a ber hooked onto said link onthe oppositeside of the handle from the reach.

4. In a vehicle, the combination with the reach, front wheels and axle,of a handle connected with the axle and provided with an aperturetherethrough at a point beyond the radius of the wheels, a linkconnected with the reach and passing through said ii pticrture, and abrake member hung on said 5. In a vehicle, the combination with a wheel,an axle and a handle connected with said axle, of a brake membersupported by said handle, and means for tilting the brake member awayfrom the wheel.

6. In a vehicle, the combination with a wheel and axle, of a handleconnected with the axle, a brake member provided with a notch to receivethe handle, and means to pivot the brake member to the handle at a pointbetween the front and rear edges of the brake member.

7 In a vehicle, the combination with a reach, of spring membersconnected thereto, a flexing member located between the reach and thespring members, parts of the spring members being substantiallyhorizontal to provide supports for a rider, and a seat.

In witness whereof I hereto affix my sig- I nature. 4

CHARLES S. BEEBE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of Patents.

. Washington, D. G.

